Stop and Stare
by ulquiorrii
Summary: She really is the strangest herbivore he had ever seen. *Stop and Smile at the camera!* HibariXOC
1. Summers and Butterflies

**Stop and Stare**

_Hibari Kyouya Fan fiction _

It is past four in the afternoon, and the sky is tainted with its afternoon colour. The students of Namimori High shuffled carelessly towards the school gates, eager to go home early, oblivious to the raven-haired prefect looking down from the Dsciplinary Committee Office. The students are noisy, and they are all crowded together like a flock of helpless herbivores. Crowding is prohibited in the school grounds, in fact, wherever Hibari Kyouya is.

Normally, he would've jumped down from the window and terrorize the students. But Kyouya just chuckled darkly and closed his eyes, carefully sketching to memory every detail of what just transpired that morning. Opening his eyes, he reaches for three Polaroid photographs atop his desk. He examines each picture closely. One picture shows him standing in front of four thugs, one of whom is pointing a pocket knife to his throat. Kyouya merely stared at him, as if he wasn't pointing any sharp object at all. The second picture shows the four thugs lying helplessly on the floor, already beaten up, with Kyouya still standing with a pair of tonfa in his hands, maintaining his icy demeanor. The third one shows him staring directly in front of the camera, and that was when he realized the presence of the one taking pictures.

Hibari put the photographs down and folded his arms, looking down over the bunch of students once again. No matter how annoying it was to him, he can't help but smirk at what happened that morning.

_Stupid girl..._

-Earlier that morning-

The morning would've been perfect for Namimori High Disciplinary Committee President if not for the four fearless herbivores who dared to cross swords with Hibari Kyouya, Namimori's living embodiment of hell.

Unfortunatelym these guys might've not known who he was.

"Now, be obedient and hand us your money, kid", one of them said. Kyouya visibly twitched at the stench of a mixture of alcohol and sweat.

He merely stared at them, and then suddenly, spoke in a cold, spine-tingling voice, "Move out of my way, or I'll bite you to death."

The threat meant nothing to them, as they shot their heads back and burst out in a boisterous laugh. One of them even pointed a knife to Kyouya's throat.

"Ohh...I'm scared! A middle-schooler biting me to death..!" he remarked sarcastically.

In an instant, Hibari held out a pair of tonfa from his sleeves and even before they could recover from their laughter, they were already lying on the ground, helpless and beaten. They were all dumbfounded and shocked, and Hibari kicked the pocket knife away.

"Bunch of herbivores..."

He wouldn't have noticed it, if not for the flash of light from his peripheral view. Slowly, he lowered his tonfa, and stared at the camera, or rather, at the person holding it.

She was around his age. Her unkempt blonde hair falls on her pale soldiers and down to her waist. Her floral dress drops shortly above her knees, and vaguely reminds him of summer and butterflies. Her feet were bare save for the pair of black shoes she's wearing, a perfect contrast to her fair complexion. Her skin could've been a flawless canvass, if not for the dark patches of bruises on her wrist and hands and a few bandages on her knee. She was lucky she even moved, or Kyouya might've mistaken her for a Korean BJD and crushed her to a pulp. She reluctantly lowers her Polaroid camera and looked at him uncertainly.

"What are you doing?" he asked flatly.

She made no response, instead continues to stare at him. Her gold locks were framing her pale face, slightly obscuring it. Her eyes looked sleepy, and it seemed as if she'd faint anytime. He didn't know whether it was because of his presence or if it was natural on her. Suddenly, she dropped three photos from the Polaroid, and she bent down on her knees to pick them up. In a flash, Hibari was already in front of the girl, looming over her, still clutching to his tonfas. The girl looked up at him with her innocent blue orbs, and for a moment, he was transfixed on something he wasn't really sure, that he didn't even notice the fluffy, snow-white little puppy behind her. He stared straight into her eyes, and for some reason, he can't help but suppress a grin. He's practically scaring her, though she obviously wasn't showing it, not in front of him. That moment felt like eternity, and Hibari broke out of the trance all of a sudden.

"Go. Or I'll bite you to death..."

Her eyes visibly widened at his threat, and without even bothering to pick up the fallen photographs, she grabbed her puppy and ran away, and into the side alley. Hibari blinked. He could've run after her. It would be so uncharacteristic of him to let her go away, but he just brushed it off.

Without much thinking, he bent down and picked up the three pictures from the ground, wondering how and why anyone would even take a picture of him like that. He tucked the photos in his pocket, and walked off to Namimori High smirking.


	2. Carousel

_I KNOW I KNOW PLEASE DON'T KILL ME._

_I was just too lazy to write this new update, so yeah, there you go, a few months of not updating._

_*sigh* really, really am sorry ._

_The first parts were actually written a few months back. I just lacked the energy to continue writing it cos, I don't know.. lack of inspiration/s perhaps?_

_Anyways, there you have it. Hope you would still find the time and interest to read this one.^.^_

_(oh, and don't expect an update very soon) *nervous laugh* _

_Lolz. Jus kidding.._

_Stop and Stare_

_Chapter 2_

The forest was quiet and the air was still. Her movements were silent, as she walked around trying to look for any sign of life. The moon was at its best, veiling the lonely trees with its luminescent light. But even so, the dark feeling amidst the ominous environment never cease. It was deafeningly silent, and every breath she takes and every beat her heart makes resonates into the cold quietness of the moonlit night. Slowly, she sinks to the ground, diamond tears involuntarily dripping down her pale cheeks. This world resembles the strange, numbing feeling inside her. The pain, the suffering, the loneliness, every bit of whatever it is that started growing inside of her along with the bitter memories and lost hopes, unforgotten past and uncertain fate, broken promises and a broken heart. This is exactly how she feels inside.

Hollow.

The penetrating light woke her up from dreamland, signaling the start of another horribly long, long day. For others, the world might be too fast, that they sometimes have to cling for dear life to keep on track. Amidst all the problems, globally or locally, no one should ever let go, for the river will keep on going, and it will never bother stopping or waiting for anyone. But for one strange 16-year old, life's hardly a roller-coaster. It had never gone fast for her. It wouldn't. For someone who don't give a damn to the world, nor care for any other thing on earth other than her puppy and her camera, life would never travel on a fast pace. The earth would still be there, slowly and painstakingly turning every second around its axis. Carousel, she says. Carousel.

Life is like a carousel ride.

She rubbed her forehead with her right hand, yawning and realizing that she was lying on the cold floor. It was _that_ dream again, the one about her being all alone, with nothing but her and the moonlit night in a shadowy forest.

Slowly, she undressed and changed into her pale pink knee-length dress, grabbed her camera and opened her window, welcoming some fresh air and a new day into her own little room.

It was boring.

The rule-breakers were on their usual deeds, the students were on their usual routine, and Hibari was on his usual duty, that is: biting people to death and beating delinquents to a pulp. It was a typical school day, and that's exactly what he hates about it: everything about it is so typical and ordinary you hardly have to guess to know what'll happen next. The day was just so long, the hours seemed endless as the day dragged on, on snail's pace. He'd never wished for a day to end so quickly before, but now he does. There's just nothing else to do, aside from the usual punishments and beatings he administers here and there practically on anybody, just for the sake of it. Hibari sighed.

Isn't there anything else that could get rid of his boredom?

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

How she just loved the sound of the clicking of the camera!

It was an ordinary weekday for her, as ordinary as any weekdays could get, but oh, how lovely the photos she'd taken were. She walked happily and silently, though her expression was rather neutral, and her face devoid of any emotion. Her sleepy eyes had an unusual glint on them however, and there was a ghost of a smile playing on her lips. She examined the photos one-by-one, careful not to ruin them, and when finally satisfied, she put them all back in her pocket.

She suddenly came to a halt upon remembering what just happened to her this morning. She quickly covered her face, anxious to hide her reddening cheeks.

Isn't it the most wonderful thing to know, that the strangest, most bizarre herbivore you ever knew, is living right next door?

That was the first thing he saw when he stood out of his balcony that morning. She was leaning outside of her window, holding the Polaroid camera with her right hand and practically clicking on any kind of object that passes on her field of view. Her head was slightly tilted to the left, and she was looking up to the sky, as if there's even anything there worth taking a picture of. Her left hand was dangling lazily out of the window pane, and her hair was in its usual unkempt state. She seemed pretty oblivious of everything around her, not at all even bothering of the taken photos piling on the ground below her. Hibari did nothing but stare. In fact, he didn't know what to do for the moment, or what to think, and when she moved the camera to his direction, she momentarily froze. She hastily scrambled inside her room and closed the window tight, but not after taking a picture of the bemused prefect and taking the photo with her.

Kyouya twitched at the absurdity, and even waited for ten minutes for her to look back, but she never did.

It wasn't long 'till the sky darkened and the sidewalks and the streets became almost barren. The sky was cloudless, giving way to the light of the moon to illuminate the entire Namimori. It wasn't as scary as in her usual dreams, but the deathly silence was enough to make her imaginations go wild and soon enough, her mind was filled with scary thoughts about dark shadows and horrifying creatures lurking in the dark. This made her pace, if only, a bit faster than usual, and her pale knuckles clutched around her precious camera tight. If she knew any chant or prayer that would make the bad spirits go away, she'd no doubt recite it right there and then. But, alas, she doesn't know a thing about prayers or spirits and such. And so she walked on, fearing for her life, mentally noting another one of the things she must learn once she gets back home.

Anyway, it was around seven or so, and any ordinary citizen would definitely be at home right now. However, since she isn't just another ordinary girl, it's not surprising that she's still outside, nowhere around her own house, and not even a thing about supper passing through her mind. Her puppy might be hungry by now, she thought. Definitely! The poor dog's been left all alone in the house since morning, and on her way out she forgot all along that she even had one.

She never believed in ghost stories and stuffs like those, and she'd never wanted to anyway. Stories about unknown beings taking children were just tales designed to scare them off from going out at night, and nothing's gonna stop her from going wherever and whenever she wanted to. Besides, she's sixteen, for heaven's sake. No sixteen year old would ever believe in such foolishness and—

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Everything happened really fast. She was just thinking about all these things when all of a sudden, a small dark entity with glowing green eyes just leaped down from nowhere and appeared right in front of her and bared its fangs and let out a horrifying scream, or maybe a squeak, and that's when she let out a bloodcurdling shrill cry which cut through the dead stillness of the night. She closed her eyes tight and wished for any human being to appear and help her out. She could almost imagine her face going extra pale by now, and the Polaroid camera almost crushing apart in her knuckles. She stood her ground, as the cold wind swayed her blonde hair and caressed her white skin, mentally scolding herself for not even thinking of bringing a jacket or a sweater if she were planning to stay this late. Time seemed to stand still, when the entity suddenly purred, letting out a rather cute little sound.

"Meow"

_What the heck._

"Meow" Its purr became softer and softer by the moment.

_A cat. I got scared by a freakin' harmless little cat._ She could almost imagine any person who could've witnessed it rolling on the floor laughing at her, and she could see herself shrinking to the ground, unable to face the world.

She sighed and managed a faint smile, as she decided to walk on and approached the animal. "Meow?" It cocked its little head to the left and stared at her with its large green orbs. She just couldn't resist. She bent down on one knee and took the small cat on her arms. It purred contentedly as it made itself comfortable on her chest. She chuckled softly. How the hell could she have been scared of such cuteness?

All of a sudden, the cat jolted down and bared its fangs; skin trembling. It seemed to have gotten scared by something, and just stayed there frozen. It suddenly ran to the opposite direction, which left her no choice but to run after it as well. "Wait!" she called on.

The cat made its way into a nearby alleyway and soon came to a sudden halt at a more barren, quieter part of the other street. The girl stopped as well, panting and breathing heavily. She looked at the cat quizzically, and upon seeing the cat tremble at whatever it sees in the dark, she also turned her head towards the direction.

Two men were beating a guy with a baseball club and wooden objects. One of them held his head back and laughed manically while kicking the poor man on the ground. The other was beating the guy with the club while holding on to what seemed like a wallet and some stuffs; which appears to have belonged to the beaten man. Both of them looked like one of those scary lunatics in one of those scary thriller movies. They were busy doing their disturbing job; unaware and undisturbed by her presence.

Perhaps it could've gone forever if it wasn't for the little cat's slight 'meow', which finally interrupted the two. They both looked at the cat blankly, and eventually to her. Seconds passed; small crystals of sweat gradually formed on her pail forehead. The only sound she could hear was her own, steady breathing, and her heart which seemed to be beating out of her rib cage. She couldn't take this anymore. She has to run.

She saw the other guy nudging the other on the ribs. They exchanged eye ball messages; the other one licking his lips while straightening his back. They were unmoving, and she was immobile. The beaten guy was still lying on the ground, perhaps a bit thankful that the two men have finally found another human to inflict their misery upon.

Slowly, she put her trembling left foot a step back. Looking back at the two men with one of her blank stares, her head started to spin; figuring out how she could ever manage to grab the cat which was a meter away, at the same time dart the opposite direction. She knew she wouldn't able to do it, and that childish thought would eventually get her killed by the two.

She didn't have to think any further, for they were much faster than her train of thoughts at the moment. They were the first to move from their positions, though she was able to run and get chased by them. She ran through the deserted streets of the town, across empty areas, and finally got herself in a small alley. The walls were several feet higher, the space claustrophobic, and the stench unbearable. She didn't know how she even got herself in here. It was too dark; she didn't know where she was headed.

The wall screamed 'DEADEND' right at her ghostly white face. She didn't have anywhere else to go, unless she wanted to go back and meet those two, herself. To her horror, she finally heard those heavy footsteps. She heard them first before she knew their presence, and before she could even react, she was feeling cold floor beneath her back. One hand was tightly clasped around her mouth, subduing any yell which might alert the people; if there were any, anyway. Her hair was slightly spread behind her, while her arms were pinned to the ground. She didn't know who was doing what, all she knew was that a hand was covering her mouth, two were pressing her on to the floor, and another was around her neck, strangling her. She struggled as the tears started to spill. Never in her life had she felt such fear. She begged for someone to just come and save her.

_So much for the carousel ride._

Her head sprang back as her back arched forward when she felt one hand about to go under her dress—

Coldness rush as her neck was released from the tight grasp all of a sudden. She didn't have the energy to even move a muscle to see what was happening. All she heard were slight yelps and painful cries from them, and some metal hitting hard on skin and bones. Was it too dark, or were her eyes playing tricks on her vision? She just stared at the sky, her blond hair spread on the ground, and when she finally had the slight energy, she sat up, drew her knees closer, and sobbed like she'd never had before. Her hands were trembling. She bent her head lower to cover her face with her hair. She had never felt afraid like this. She didn't want to imagine what might've happened if someone hadn't come and saved her.

When all else was quiet, she heard a few, quiet steps towards her. She instinctively held on to her knees, bending her head more and curling her fists. She could not control her sobs, or the trembling of her small form. She bit her lower lip to stop herself from crying, only make it bleed and increasing the pain she felt even more.

All of a sudden, she felt warm. It was different from the warmth she feels from her little puppy's fur, or from the soft comforters she loved to slide into every night. It was an odd feeling. Like some sort of shell protecting her from any harm. She tried to stop crying for a moment to feel the soft fabric on her shoulders. She felt relaxed stroking it with her trembling hands.

Her head once again started to spin, and everything just blacked out.

The first thing she saw was the blinding light of the sun directed at her face. She instinctively drew a hand across her face to shield her burning eyes from the merciless sun. Slowly, she opened her eyes to register the things around her.

The curtains were drawn to the side which explains the blinding light shining upon every object in the room. It was coloured green, one of her favourite colours. The walls were pristine white, and the floor could never be more spotless. Her head started to throb again, and the only thing she recognized as her own was her Polaroid camera sitting on the glass table beside her bed. At least, she still had her facourite thing in the world with her.

Everything else in the room wasn't hers. The bed, the white sheets, the small refrigerator, the green sofa; even the clothes she's wearing weren't hers. Her eyes suddenly grew wide with alarm, as the environment slowly started to settle on her head. She turned her head everywhere. Where are her clothes? Her stuffs? Even that small cat she picked up last night was gone.

The creaking of the door finally shattered the deafening silence. A nurse entered, smiled at her and walked on towards the bed. She was carrying a white paper bag.

"Here are your clothes and some of your things besides your camera." She said in a tone that reminded her of mothers in spring time. Relief instantly showed on the girl's face. She just looked at the nurse as the latter arranged some of her things in the bag. She caught a glimpse of something black inside, suddenly remembering that she didn't bring anything black yesterday. She moved her hand towards the bag and tugged at the cloth, staring at it quizzically.

"Oh, we thought it was yours. Someone brought you there in front of the hospital last night. You were bruised and unconscious. We just saw this jacket blanketing your shoulders and we decided to just take you in to tend to your wounds. We never knew who took you to here. Perhaps this jacket belongs to whoever he or she is. Recognize anyone with this jacket?"

She knew the nurse was asking her something, but she drowned out all her senses as she stared wide-eyed at the black jacket she held on her hands, with the red band pinned on the right sleeve. Shock turned to realization as her pail face gradually turned red. The nurse doesn't have to ask her if she recognize the jacket. She already does.


End file.
